Draconia Offline vol. 1

75.1. Unprecedented - Part 1

The atmosphere is as tense as it gets when I'm heading to the Royal Office the next morning. Everybody knows that I'm about to take a super important video call that can either start a war or avoid it entirely. Nobody wants war, not even the most battle-hungry Draconians, because that's not our idea of conquest. In the game, it was always about discovering new lands and competing, not brainless killing and destruction.

Although I feel Celestial wrath coming from all my subjects, I'm not worried. Celestial wrath could potentially hinder peace talks, but what everybody wants right now is the truth. We all feel deep in our bones that we should be fighting monsters, not humans.

I meet with Liana at the elevator and Soren is with her. I'm glad because I wanted him to be present and it seems Liana thought the same thing—he can speak for American Draconians and present his point of view. Strangely though, I don't feel any wrath coming from him. Instead, he's feeling deeply saddened and despaired.

I usually don't react to the emotions of other people, but something in Soren makes me halt. He looks at me with eyes that are begging me to reconsider, even though he wouldn't dare to oppose me.

"Wait," I stop my entourage. "I want to speak with Soren."

"What? Now? Why?" Liana frowns. "The meeting starts in twenty minutes."

"Then we have twenty minutes, so find us an empty room," I order with a voice not allowing any disobedience. I admit that it feels good to be the Emperor in times like these.

Soren is looking at me both frightened and grateful that I'm willing to hear him out. Liana realises that it's not a whim and in just a minute, we're sitting in one of the smaller lounges. I take only Soren, my partners, Liana and a few guards inside.

"Soren, speak freely," I encourage him softly because I can feel his anxiety and desperation.

"Will you go to war, Your Majesty?" Soren lowers his head and his wings are shaking. "I will follow your orders, of course, but the States is my homeland and there are good people despite what you experienced during your brief visit."

I still have the New York conference in my vivid memory—the way American politicians looked down on us, their hate and disgust and especially the way those protesters in the street felt like.

"Tell that Yrienne and Kaileen," I sigh.

"I know those girls and I'm well aware of what they've been through," he says. "I took them under my wings when they ran away from home. Still, not all American Draconians have the same negative experience with their families, just as not all European Draconians have positive experience with theirs. And definitely not all Americans voted Delgado."

"What about your experience then?" I ask him openly.

"I came to serve you, Your Majesty," Soren swears. "My family was supportive during my transformation and I left only to be with you. I profoundly apologise for being so daring, but how familiar are you with the political climate in the US, apart from your one unpleasant experience, my Emperor?"

"Only the stuff from the news," I admit reluctantly. "What are you trying to say?"

I look at Gotrid and clutch his hand. He's also American and his experience with growing up and transformation are overly negative. But I'm willing to offer Soren my ear. Admittedly, my perspective might be biased because of what my beloved partner has been through.

"Before Delgado became a politician, he was a corporate man," Soren explains. "Yrienne and Kaileen probably told you that money is everything in the US and that much is true. Neither of us was even born at that time, but, in 2054, there was a huge economic crisis."